Latin America Economics Update Chile cuts rates again to revive flagging domestic demand Chile’s central bank (BCC) lowered its policy rate by a further 25bps last night in response to fresh signs that domestic demand is cooling. With growth and inflation set to remain weak for the... 20th November 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile: Q3 data underline challenges awaiting Bachelet Chilean Q3 GDP data were stronger than expected, but this was largely driven by a rebound in mining exports which is unlikely to be sustained. With investment weakening and the current account deficit... 18th November 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Fresh falls in Latin American currencies Latin American currencies have tumbled against the US dollar since mid-October and in many cases they are close to the lows that they reached during the height of this summer’s market sell-off... 15th November 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update What will Bachelet 2.0 mean for Chile? This weekend’s Chilean Presidential Election may go down as the most one-sided affair in recent memory, with former president Michelle Bachelet set to sweep to a second term in office. But while the... 13th November 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus How much do external conditions matter to Latin America? Our new Indicator of Global Conditions suggests that most of the fluctuations in Latin American GDP growth over the past few decades can be explained by changes in the global macroeconomic backdrop... 4th November 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Inflation eases back Having picked up in several countries in the early part of this year, inflation has slowed in most of Latin America in recent months and is now back within its target range in each of the region's... 29th October 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Surge in Argentine equities is not all good news Several recent developments, including the growing prospect of a political regime change, have combined to send Argentine asset prices soaring. But gains in Argentina's equity market are also... 24th October 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Debt overhang a risk on horizon for parts of Latin America Lending growth has continued to cool in most parts of Latin America over the course of 2013. Although the credit boom of the past decade has yet to be reflected in a significant rise in default rates... 23rd October 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Is Mexico losing its fiscal discipline? Plans to run a substantially wider budget deficit in 2014 have raised concerns that the Mexican government is losing fiscal discipline. But while a spending splurge is a major risk to an otherwise... 21st October 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile cuts rates as economic slowdown takes hold While the timing of last night’s interest rate cut in Chile was a little unexpected, it nonetheless confirms our long-held belief that the central bank would begin trimming its benchmark rate by the... 18th October 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Markets find their feet after summer sell-off Latin American financial markets have bounced back in September, snapping a three-month losing streak. While the US Fed’s decision to delay tapering does little to change our fundamental view on the... 26th September 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Growth accelerates in Q2 but falters at start of Q3 The raft of official GDP data released over the past month confirmed that, having slowed sharply since the start of 2012, growth in Latin America picked up pace in the second quarter of this year. We... 25th September 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus What might China hold in store for Peru and Chile? With fears of a ‘hard landing’ in China receding, the economic outlook for Peru and Chile has brightened a little in recent months. As it happens, both countries appear fairly well placed to deal with... 20th September 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Fed tapering and Latin America: a recap All eyes will be firmly fixed on today’s US FOMC meeting in anticipation of the announcement that the Fed will begin scaling back its programme of asset purchases under QE3. But for the economies of... 18th September 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Weaker currencies have not fully restored competitiveness The depreciation of exchange rates across Latin America since May only goes part of the way to restoring external competitiveness that has been lost over the past five years. As such, we suspect that... 16th September 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Interest rate cuts still likely in Chile and Peru The stronger tone of recent data means that the case for monetary easing in both Chile and Peru is less convincing than it was only a few months ago. Nonetheless, policymakers in both countries will... 13th September 2013 · 1 min read